Sleep Is The Biggest Chapter In The Book Of Rest
We realized that, and it’s a deep, active process. A gift we often ignore.
Part A, showed us what sleep actually does for us and how every area of our life stumbles when we ignore it.
The first important question now becomes:
How well are you sleeping? How can you tell if you’re not?
Because I’ve realized it’s not that we don’t want better sleep. It’s that most of us aren’t sure how to assess if we’re getting enough, or how to improve it.
How Sleep Connects To NEWSTART
Sleep is one of the great healing promises. Part of a larger design.
Like a single draft horse pulling a heavy cart. One trained one might pull 3,600 kgs on its own. But pair two together, trained to work in unison—10,800 kgs. That’s 3 times! Add a third? Combined force multiplies.
That’s how God’s health principles work too. These NEWSTART horses.
Compared to Nutrition, Sleep, Sunlight, and Exercise, remain the principles still within our grasp.
Yes, we can try to eat well, but honestly, many no longer grow their own food. Shelves groan under the weight of ultra-processed, genetically modified, and chemical-laced options.
Clean water and air? Questionable. If you live in a city, you might have to travel.
But you still have a say in whether you walk in the sun and move your body. You have a say in honoring your need for sleep. These are gifts still largely within reach. Guard these 3 horses with everything you’ve got.
You may not have all 8 every day. But even with 3, or 4 (Temperance), or 5 (Trust in God), the journey moves faster than with none. Or one.
Do I Sleep Well? How To Assess
Before we get into how to actually improve your sleep, let’s understand that not everyone reading this is starting from the same place.
There are people dealing with real, sleep disorders out there. Insomnia, hypersomnia, parasomnias, sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and more.
And if something feels seriously off for you, we suggest you please talk to a doctor. Sleep medicine is a real field, with real tools, like questionnaires and polysomnography to help identify what’s going on.
This article does not promise a detection, or a direct remedy to those conditions.
That said, I also understand that most of us aren’t dealing with full-blown disorders. We’re dealing with something more slippery. Bad habits. Even to those with sleep disorders. That wreck our sleep.
We need to admit that we need more, and better sleep. That we’re not invincible. You deserve that honesty. And you deserve rest.
Want To Assess Your Sleep?
(a) Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)
It’s a 4-page self-assessment that tracks your sleep over the past month. How long you take to fall asleep, how often you wake up, and how rested you feel. Anything above 5/21 means there’s room to improve.
(b) Epworth Sleepiness Scale
A shorter quiz that checks how likely you are to doze off during everyday things. Reading, watching TV, or chatting. Above 10/24 means your body’s craving more rest.
Tired minds don’t plan well. Sleep first, plan later — Walter Reisch
13 Ways to Improve Your Sleep
Once you’ve taken a moment to reflect, or maybe even scored yourself on one of those sleep questionnaires, you’ll realize
Sleep doesn’t need a miracle. It needs an invitation.
No pill can match what your body does naturally. But there are simple steps you can try.
You don’t need to do them all at once. Experiment, make space, and find what works for you.
1. Honor Sleep Opportunity
Sleep opportunity is simply the amount of time you set aside to actually sleep. Basically, the window between when you go to bed and when you plan to wake up.
For example, if you get into bed at 10 a.m and set your alarm for 6 a.m, your sleep opportunity is 8 hours.
But just having 8 hours in bed doesn’t guarantee 8 hours of actual sleep, because you might take time to fall asleep, wake up during the night, or toss and turn.
So sleep opportunity is about giving yourself enough time in bed so you have a good chance to get the recommended 7–8 hours of actual sleep.
2. Eat Early, Sleep Better
Try not to eat anything 3–5 hours before bed. Digestion raises core temperature and alerts the system. Going to bed slightly hungry (not starving) is ideal. Let your body focus on repair, not processing a meal.
The stomach, when we lie down to rest, should have its work done, that it may enjoy rest, as well as other portions of the body. The work of digestion should not be carried on through any period of the sleeping hours —Ellen G. White
3. Ditch the Devices
2 hours before bed, start stepping away from screens. Blue light suppresses your natural sleep hormone. If screens are unavoidable, use blue light filters or wear blue-blocking glasses.
4. Avoid Stimulants
Caffeine, nicotine, even intense work-related conversations. If it spikes cortisol or raises your heart rate, your body isn’t preparing for sleep. Wind down.
5. Cool Your Body
Your body sleeps best in a cool environment. A warm bath just before bed can help drop core temperature, signalling the brain that it’s time to sleep. Counterintuitive, but effective.
6. Hello Darkness My Old Friend
Light, tells the brain it’s still daytime. Make your room dark. That it becomes difficult to see you hand. If total darkness isn’t possible, invest in an eye mask.
7. Stick to a Wake Time
Even on weekends. Your body has an internal clock, and it loves consistency. Vary your bedtime if needed, but waking up at the same time helps anchor your rhythm.
8. Don’t Obsess Over Sleep
Strangely, worrying about sleep makes it worse. If you track your sleep using phone apps and constantly stress over the “score,” take a break. Let your body, not anxiety lead.
9. Move During the Day
Daily physical activity helps regulate your internal body clock, improves mood, and builds “sleep pressure” from adenosine. Just don’t exercise too close to bedtime.
10. Skip the Nap (Mostly)
If you struggle to fall asleep at night, avoid naps. They release some of the pressure your brain needs to build. If you must nap, keep it very short. Enough to recharge, not enough to disrupt.
11. Create a Gentle Bedtime Ritual
Stretch. Read. Pray. Journal. Breathe deeply. Enjoy soothing music. Massage. Let your mind slow down. Signal to your nervous system, “It’s time to rest. You’re safe.”
12. Natural Helpers: Sleep-Inducing Herbs
Jethro Kloss’ sip-inducing teas may help you wind down.
Hops is my favorite. I’ve tried ashwagandha too. There’s also skullcap and catnip that Solomon, my gymbro, swears by.
If you don’t have herbs, hot sour lemonade, grapefruit juice, or soybean milk can do the trick too.
13. Rethink Alcohol
Alcohol may help you fall asleep faster, but it fragments your Deep and REM sleep. You wake up heavy, not refreshed. If you must drink, stop by 6 p.m.
Rest Beyond Sleep
The second, and perhaps most overlooked question we need to ask is this:
How can I rest beyond sleeping? And how do I know I need to?
To answer that, my mind takes me back to Genesis 1-2.
Rest didn’t exist in a void. It followed work. Man was given the garden to tend. A joyful, fulfilling work. Still, it exerted the body. Fruits of the trees, water from rivers, fresh air, and sunlight served to replenish.
And in the setting of the sun, their workday naturally closed. Inviting them to rest and reset.
2025, though our work isn’t as joyful, our bodies are still wired for that rhythm. But we’ve complicated it. We work hard but we rarely rest well. Not because we don’t get time off, but because we’ve blurred the line between rest and distraction.
After a long day, we often overstimulate ourselves even more instead of finding quiet. At work, our breaks become small bursts of distraction. Even on off days we have no space to recover.
We’ve made room for sleep, maybe. But deep rest? That’s harder to come by.
Rest Awhile Articles To Help You Find Just That
Why? Because you deserve better rest. Not because you’ve earned it. Not because you’ve hit a wall. But simply because you were made for it.
That promise of rest is still good. Still real. Still yours. Understand:
✅ Why we need leisure, how to schedule it, and what activities.
✅ 2 strategies to manage your socials. Not the other way around.
✅ True Rest in the Lord. In His love. Fully trust.
✅ Overstimulation silences independent thinking. Reflective writing reopens that space, bringing deep rest.
